M-1 / M-2 / M-3 Carbine [Automatic Rifle]:

The M1 Carbine was originally developed from the unauthorized
use of the Winchester Model 1907 Self-Loading Rifle during
First World War. The reason was that the light weight Winchester rifle
was appreciated by soldiers. During the fall of 1937, a suggestion by
the Chief of Infantry was given for a semi-automatic rifle more powerful
than a pistol but less powerful than an M1 Garand and with a range of
300 yards and lightweight as well.

In response to this, the Ordnance Department and Winchester Repeating
Arms worked to develop a new round firing a 110-grain bullet with a
2000 feet-per-second muzzle velocity. The round was standardized as
the "Cartridge, Caliber .30SL, M1." on 30 September 1940. The US
Military also needed to develop a new rifle for the round and released
specifications for the new round and the requirements for a "light rifle."
and firearms designers from around the country began work on a new rifle.
The military also paid close attention to European conflict. Observers
noted that German Wehrmacht's "Blitzkrieg" tactics were able to bring
troops deep into the rear areas of their enemies and attacking support
personnel who were previously considered safe behind the front lines.

By 1 May 1941, nine prototype guns were Received by the Army, including
a design by John Garand. Unfortunately, none of these rifles were found
to be acceptable in testing and a second round of tests were scheduled
for September, 1941. During this series of testing, the capability for
fully-automatic firing was dropped because none of the submitted designs
were able to meet this requirement. Winchester did not submit a prototype in
series of tests due to their engineers being more concerned with getting the
M1 Garnad into full production but for the second series of tests, they
submitted a prototype which was an amalgamation of ideas from a variety of
designers including from Eugene Pugsley. The design used a short-stroke
gas piston developed by David Williams who was a former convict.
The new round of testing began on 15 September 1941.

John Garand's design showed improvement from its prior incarnation, but
the Winchester design was still a superior gun. On 30 September 1941, the
Winchester design was adopted and the first contract was for nearly 900,000
of the new rifles. To distinguish the new "light rifle" from the M1 rifle,
the weapon was adopted as the United States Carbine, Caliber .30, M1.
The M1 carbine went from a requirement to operational status in less than
under one year, which was a record for developing a weapon to arm a major
military. The United States entered World War II six weeks later and the M1
Carbine was fired in war.

In November 1941 and Mid 1942, requirements were first increased to 1.1 more
Carbines and then up to 4.5 million weapons. As a result, multiple additional
companies were given contracts to manufacture the light rifle. Design
experiments by Inland Manufacturing Division of General Motor resulted in
the adoption of the United States Carbine, Caliber .30, M1A1 on 21 May 1942.
The M1A1 differed from standard M1 carbines by the use of a metal frame folding
buttstock in an effort to reduce the size of the carbine further for use by
airborne troops. The M1A1's stock actually increased the weapon's weight by
about a quarter pound. Inland was the only company producing the M1A1 for the
duration of the war. At this time, the US military also recommended the
newly-developed M1A2 for adoption. The improvements incorporated into the M1A2's
design were due to combat experience showing the original non-windage-adjustable
'L-type' flip rear sight was not adequate for combat and the M1A2's new rear sight
was capable of windage and elevation adjustments. The sight was adopted and
later used on all new and rebuilt carbines but the M1A2 was never built.
Various other experimental changes were tried but none were adopted,

On 23 October 1944, the United States Carbine, Caliber .30, M2 was adopted in
response to the need for a fully automatic weapon. The M2 carbine was designed
to permit both semi-automatic and fully-automatic fire which fulfilled the dropped
original requirement and allowed a soldier to select which mode of operation he
needed in combat. A final version of the carbine was adopted on 16 August 1945.
The United States Carbine, Caliber .30, T3, which was later renamed the M3, was a
M2 carbine which mounted an infra-red scope and allowed soldiers to see in the
dark for night operations.

Between October, 1941 and August, 1945, nearly 6.25 million M1 Carbines and its
variants were built. This makes it the most produced small arm in American
military history and the most produced small arm during World War II.

The M1 Carbine most appreciated feature was its weight and was half as heavy as
the M1 Garand. The fifteen and later thirty round magazine gave it a fair amount
of firepower as well. The biggest problem that many troops had with the
carbine was the relative lack of stopping power of its cartridge. In some cases,
Enemy soldiers would have to be shot several times before being stopped.
St8ill the M1 Carbine was considered a fine weapon.

The carbine served admirably in both World War II and Korea. The carbine was also distributed to other nations under American military assistance programs. As well,
several civilian manufacturers built versions of the M1 Carbine in a commercial
form and sold it on the civilian arms market.